Church Sunday setup and teardown checklist for your media team
A printable checklist for a church media team, from one volunteer to a rotating team: a timeline from the early week to ten minutes before the service, YouTube and Facebook stream settings with their sources, a sound check, backups, teardown, a who-does-what table and a space for next week's notes.
Free printable PDF
Sunday setup and teardown checklist
What is inside
- A setup timeline: early week, 60, 30 and 10 minutes out
- A sound check and stream test, with YouTube and Facebook settings and where each figure comes from
- Backups for the recording, the slides, the internet and the batteries
- Teardown, a who-does-what table for one volunteer or a rotating team, and a space for next week's notes
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What the checklist covers
Early week and 60 minutes out
- Name a person for each job and, where you can, a backup, get the song list early and run updates midweek, not on Sunday morning (church production software makers and a church media director's checklist; see Sources).
- Check platform eligibility ahead: YouTube needs no live-streaming restrictions in the past 90 days; Facebook needs an account at least 60 days old with at least 100 followers (YouTube Help, Meta).
- Power, network, cameras, slides and fresh batteries, then play every video all the way through.
30 and 10 minutes out
- Sound check with the people who will use the mics, then a stream test with audio and movement like the real service (YouTube Help, OBS).
- Starting points: YouTube lists 5 Mbps minimum and 14 Mbps recommended for 1080p30 on H.264; Facebook lists 3,000 to 6,000 kbps. Both want a keyframe every 2 seconds.
- Start the recording early and keep a backup connection ready, such as a mobile hotspot (a church streaming provider; see Sources).
During and after the service
- Watch levels, the stream, the slides and the recording light, and note problems with the time.
- Save the recording, back it up, power down, reset the slides and tidy the booth (a church media director's checklist; see Sources).
- Write what went wrong in the notes for next week.
Frequently asked questions
Work to a timeline. Early in the week, name a person for each job and, where you can, a backup, get the song list and finish software updates. An hour out, set up power, network, cameras, slides and batteries. Thirty minutes out, run the sound check and a stream test. Ten minutes out, start the recording and do a last round at each station.
YouTube Help lists 5 Mbps minimum and 14 Mbps recommended for 1080p at 30 frames per second on H.264, and 3 Mbps minimum and 8 Mbps recommended for 720p30. Facebook lists 3,000 to 6,000 kbps for 1080p30 and 1,500 to 4,000 kbps for 720p30. Both ask for a keyframe every 2 seconds, never over 4. Test on your own connection, and check the current YouTube and Facebook pages, because they change.
YouTube Help says to test before you go live, with audio and movement like the real stream. OBS advises a test of a few minutes rather than going straight into the first broadcast. Use a wired connection, check your upload speed and limit other bandwidth use, as a church streaming provider advises, and keep a mobile hotspot ready as a backup.
A second copy of the recording, a copy of the slides on a flash drive, a backup connection such as a mobile hotspot, spare batteries and a named backup for each job. A church production software maker and a church streaming provider both advise backups; the checklist puts each one on a line you can tick.
A common routine is to power on sources and the mixer first and the speakers or amplifiers last, then shut down in the reverse order so nothing pops. Check your own equipment's manual and write your order on the sheet.
The core is the same. For a filmed Mass, your diocese decides where cameras may stand and what may be shown, and the USCCB's televising guidelines ask that elements of the liturgy not be omitted. For several campuses, name one person per campus and use one shared place for recordings.
Yes. Enter your email, confirm the code we send and the PDF downloads. It is also emailed to you. Marketing email is sent only if you tick the separate box.
No. The checklist is for your team and your equipment. Church Media Kit helps afterwards: Sermon to Social drafts post text from the sermon, and Sermon Clips makes short captioned clips for your team to review, download and post.
Keep going
- Church livestream graphics checklist: the overlays and slates a service stream needs
- How to add church lower thirds in OBS and vMix: safe zone, timing and file names
- A practical weekly church social media workflow built from one sermon
- Take the free Church Media Check
- Sermon to Social
- More free resources